I'm Not Defeated, I'm Determined!

This week has been wild and woolly in the scrap community. Two Peas In A Bucket announced they were closing and sent scrappers across the globe into a panic. How would we survive without our beloved Message Board (yes, even the NSBR!), and all the wonderful inspiration we find there? I will admit that it put me in a little bit of a funk because 2P's has been a daily stop for me, for at least 10 years. I have now accepted the fact that they are closing. Peas are gathering in different locations on the Internet, reconnecting, so all is well in my scrappy world. Rather than putting my head in the sand to accept this scrappy apocalypse, I am digging my heels in, and finding my passion for this hobby all over again. Disclaimer: During my panic phase, I may or may not have overspent on scrappy supplies this month. Thank goodness, the panic only lasted a couple of days! :)

This week I've had some forced downtime, so I decided to attempt to use my own handwriting to create a cut file on my Silhouette. I watched this video on You Tube and gave it a shot. If you haven't give it a try, you should. I just love that it's my own handwriting, it's so personal and unique! The challenge at Cocoa Daisy this month from Nicole, was to use strips of paper on a layout. I took strips of paper and made fun stars to start my layout. I took my "love" cut file and painted it with a Jenni Bowlin paint dauber to make it pop off the page. Since the handwritten cut files are pretty delicate, I just machine-stitched it to one of the stars. I added a few stamped stars and a few more extra strips/pieces of paper and my layout was complete.

My tip of the day is, focus on why we love this hobby and the reason we started it in the first place. Scrappy sites will come and go, but my love of documenting life moments will never fade. Thanks, Two Peas, for a fun and fabulous 10+ years. I learned so much, and grew as a scrapper because of the community you created. ♥♥♥

May Madness

I have decided the month of May surpasses December in regards to schedule overload. Thankfully, I survived it and I'm now slowly relaxing into our summer schedule. Even though I didn't have big blocks of time to spend in my scraproom, I still managed to do a few challenges from various sites and want to share them with you today.

I realized that even when I'm pressed for time, it's not that hard to squeeze in a layout or two. Scrapping (for me), is also a stress reliever, so I must scrap for health benefits. :) Challenges are a quick and easy way to get a layout going, if you haven't tried them, you should!

Combining Old and New Products

Glitter Girl's challenge this week was to take older products and combine with new and see what happens. Sounds like a fun challenge to me. I started with photos from 2010. For some reason, I had never scrapped these adorable winter photos. I had some Pink Paislee Snow Day collection squirreled away in my stash that worked perfectly with the photos. For the "new", I added enamel dots, puffy heart stickers, a We R chalkboard journaling card, and some washi tape.

Such a fun layout! What a great way to use some older stash and make it fresh and new. I think I should challenge myself to do this weekly.

We are having the perfect fall morning here, I think I'm going to get outside and enjoy it! Thanks for stopping by, have a lovely weekend!

What's Old is New Again

Last month on the Two Peas message board, we were having a chat about new trends at CHA. I brought up the fact that I couldn't understand why puffy stickers were making a comeback. Much to my surprise there are many puffy sticker fans, including Garden Girl, Corrie J. We had quite the discussion about the product and Corrie (the ultimate puffy-sticker-lover) told us to get prepared - she would be issuing a puffy sticker challenge in the near future. I (reluctantly) purchased a few packs of stickers from Two Peas in preparation for the challenge. I was so excited to see the 213 in 2013 video last week... Our challenge was finally here. By the way, Corrie's layout is absolutely STUNNING! If you'd like to see puffy sticker perfection, be sure to check out her gallery at Two Peas.

I've been going through some old photos and I found some snapshots from a trip to Jamaica in 1989. The hilarious thing about these photos is that we're dressed in neon clothing. Fast forward 24 years and neon is back, too! Seriously, what's next, shoulder pads? I decided to have some fun and combine the two and come up with something new. Here is my updated version of two resurging trends combined.

How fun is this layout? I can't believe I'm admitting this, but I've actually grown quite fond of the adorable, little puffy stickers. I suppose the lesson in this is to be open to new (old) things and never say never! Thanks C.J. for the challenge and the inspiration for this layout.

Girls' Roadtrip!

Just a quick post today, sharing my new favorite layout. My daughter and I recently went on a road trip, and I love this photo of us packed and ready to go! The Cocoa Daisy/Simple Stories Cabana paper from July's kit was perfect for the photo. This layout was created for a Two Peas challenge to use tags on the layout.

I just love this fun, colorful layout - it makes me smile! Don't you just love phone cameras and the spontaneous moments you can capture with them?

Monochromatic Challenge

Today's Scrap Your Stash Challenge at Two Peas was to use a monochromatic color scheme. Luckily, I also received Cocoa Daisy's July kits in the mail today so I didn't have to go searching for products. I selected blue as my color, based on my photos, and let my creativity run wild. I started with Elle's Studio Saltwater paper (endless summer) because of the blue text. I mixed Golden Fluid Acrylic paint (Cerulean Blue Chromium) with Golden Gel Medium (Soft Gel Gloss), and a little water to thin it down. I painted directly on the patterned paper to create my background for my photos. A Jenni Bowlin paint dauber was used to add color to the jillibean soup corrugated alphas. I then used Martha Stewart glitter and gel medium to give the letters a little more sparkle.

My Silhouette Cameo was used to cut out first and a Silhouette Sketch Pen was used for our. Glossy Accents was used to glue down the Dew Drops. The stamps from Cocoa Daisy's July kit were stamped onto vellum and heat-embossed with Zing (of course!) and I used foam dots to create dimension. Finally, I used StazOn, Gelatos, and paint to color the Studio Calico cork embellishments.

There you have it. Who knew a monochromatic color challenge would lead into so many fun techniques?! You cannot believe the mess I have created from just one layout! I'm going to grab a little snack and clean up so I don't have to face it in the morning. Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Summer of My Success

Every day I anxiously await the Garden Girl videos on Two Peas in a Bucket. There is so much inspiration to be found on these videos and I'm blown away by the talent of these ladies. Yesterday I watched Corrie Jone's video and it really resonated with me. She does a layout once a month about herself - I think it's a wonderful concept. Not only is it therapeutic but it's also a wonderful gift to yourself - a journal without trying. Her challenge had several prompts: 1)Start with your favorite colors (Thank you, I think I will!) 2)Use arrows as an element on the layout. 3)Use fun paperclips. 4)The layout needs to be about you (that would be me.)

Since the layout had to be about me, I decided I would document my recent success in getting fit. In April, I jump-started my program with Advocare's 24 Day Challenge, joined a new, amazing workout class, and started clean eating. I truly can't believe the results! I'm sure I will do a full blog post about it soon. Gray is the consistent color in the photos I selected, so I decided to add aqua and orange (two of my favorite colors!) I pulled out a variety of arrows: stamps, wood veneer, stickers and got busy creating. The Prima Wishes and Dreams stickers from the June Cocoa Daisy kit were perfect for this layout. I just happened to have arrow paperclips in my stash - this layout was meant to be.

Today we are having a chilly, wet Fourth of July - I may make chili instead of burgers. However you're celebrating today, make it a good one!

Buttons, Brads, and Bling!

I love the Scrap Your Stash videos on Two Peas. Every week we get a different challenge to actually use our treasured stash. This week's challenge by Paige Evans was to use buttons, brads, and bling as a frame or to frame any shape we choose. Sounds easy enough, right? My choice was a shamrock because my son's birthday is St. Patrick's Day. I cut the shamrock and some additional leaves (hearts) from assorted patterned papers using my Cameo. The fun part of this is gathering all the embellishments and attaching them. I will say that it took quite some time to do this, but it's so worth it in the end.

This was such a fun and relaxing layout to do. It was like a trip down memory lane seeing some embellishments I've had in my stash over ten years! If you're like me and need a push to use up some goodies, be sure to check out the Scrap Your Stash videos - I'm sure you'll be hooked just like me!

NSD '12

Last Saturday was NSD (National Scrapbooking Day) so I joined in on the fun at Two Peas in a Bucket! Here are a few things I completed over the weekend... Confetti Challenge

Chevron Challenge

Bright Colors Challenge

It was a fabulous NSD - lots of inspiration and fun! One more layout from Cocoa Daisy's Crop

As always, thanks for stopping by - have a great weekend!